LAKE PLACID - Two weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer spent four days vacationing with his family in this village.
He was back in the Adirondacks again on Friday, but instead of being a tourist, Schumer visited Lake Placid and Tupper Lake to promote legislation designed to boost tourism in New York and across the country.
The Travel Regional Investment Partnership Act, if approved by Congress, would create a program in the U.S. Commerce Department to award matching grants from $100,000 to $1 million to tourism destinations for infrastructure and marketing efforts. The program is designed to encourage tourist attractions to partner with chambers of commerce and local towns and villages to develop a tourism plan that would be judged against other projects as part of a competitive funding process.
At a morning press conference at the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism in Lake Placid, Schumer said tourism is more important to the Adirondacks than other parts of the state because of the lack of industry and manufacturing jobs in the region.
"Tourism is vital here," he said. "But if you just relied on local tax revenues to do it, we'd have trouble. Some help is warranted. But this is not a handout. This is an investment that will be paid back over and over again."
As he spoke, Schumer was flanked by Lake Placid Mayor Craig Randall, town of North Elba Supervisor Roby Politi, Saranac Lake Mayor Clyde Rabideau and James McKenna, president and CEO of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism and Lake Placid Convention and Visitor's Bureau - all of whom voiced support for the legislation.
Public funding for the development of tourism infrastructure, such as lodging, isn't easy to come by, McKenna said.
"This is the first time in my history that we've had any program like this on the table," he said. "This program will allow communities to get some investment in lodging. It doesn't have to be large hotels; it can be small Adirondack inns and those types of things. We have to get the facilities in place for Adirondack communities to gain something out of tourism."
Before leaving Lake Placid, Schumer walked over to the Olympic Center with state Olympic Regional Development Authority President and CEO Ted Blazer to check the progress of construction on the new Lake Placid Conference Center.
That afternoon, Schumer traveled to the Wild Center in Tupper Lake and spoke about the TRIP Act to crowd of more than 40 local officials, Wild Center staff and board members, and tourists who were visiting the museum.
"It has both Democratic and Republican support," he said. "It's going to be a major priority for us to push for this year and next year.
"The dollars that are spent here at the Wild Center are one of the main economic engines of Franklin County. Just think if we could magnify that in the rest of the Adirondacks. And it's not just about the dollars, this should be an incentive for people to come together on tourism planning and coordination."
The legislation calls for $10 million to be appropriated for the grant program each of the next five fiscal years. The funding would be taken from federal revenues, Schumer said.
"My view is there are lots of federal programs that are bloated and wasteful, and there are other things we've neglected," Schumer said. "(Tourism) is an area we've neglected. It's not going to be a large expenditure in terms of the federal budget, but it's worth it."
The TRIP Act is supported by Destination Marketing Association International, a trade group that represents more than 650 destination marketing organizations and convention and visitor bureaus worldwide.
Following his visit to Tupper Lake, Schumer made a stop at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake to promote the legislation.
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Vacation
Schumer talked about his recent family vacation in Lake Placid during his visit to the area on Friday. He said he, his wife and their two daughters spent three nights at the Mirror Lake Inn.
"We vacation here all the time, we just don't let people know," he said. "We had a great time."
One of the highlights of this year's trip, Schumer said, was when he called his colleague, fellow U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and found out she was vacationing in Lake Placid with her family at the same time. The two families went out to dinner at Tail O' the Pup in Ray Brook, Schumer said.
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Contact Chris Knight at 891-2600 ext. 24 or cknight@
adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
